Mighty 80th career pole for Marquez at rainy Sepang, but he’ll start from third row. Pedrosa in 10th place

Today Marc Marquez took an historic 80th pole position across all classes, despite the tricky conditions that affected qualifying day at Sepang. Nonetheless, he’ll start tomorrow’s race from seventh place on the grid after being sanctioned with a six-place penalty.

Fair weather is rarely an enduring condition in Malaysia. After enjoying two sunny sessions yesterday and a further dry FP3 stint this morning (in which Dani Pedrosa advanced from 11th to fourth place, earning a direct passage to Q2), the MotoGP field encountered the weekend’s first rain in FP4, ultimately topped by Marquez.

That shower was just a warning, as heavy rain soon followed, forcing Race Direction to postpone qualifying proceedings by over an hour. Q2 started at 4:30 p.m. and Marc was able to set a time that proved untouchable for his opponents, despite the fact that a tumble at turn four in the final minutes of the session prevented him from further improving. Dani ended the session in 10th place.

The unfavourable weather forecast for tomorrow afternoon prompted Race Direction to also reschedule Sunday’s proceedings, moving the Moto3 race up to 10 a.m., the Moto2 race to 11:20 a.m. and the MotoGP race to 1 p.m. local time.

Marc Marquez

Pole Position (Grid position 7th)2'12.161

“I think that being able to quickly adapt to sudden changes in track conditions is one of my strong points. Today I took advantage of that, even if, honestly, it wasn’t easy. It was the first time this weekend we rode in the wet, and we even crashed. But the feeling was there and we achieved the pole position, which is a good feeling even if we’ll ultimately start from the third row. The most important thing is that we made a huge step forward with the setup in dry conditions, and now I think we’re competitive. I also adapted my riding style a bit, and now we’re closer to the faster guys, who here are Dovizioso and Viñales. Now we’ll see which conditions we’ll have tomorrow, then we’ll try and make a good start and if possible we’ll fight for the podium.”

Dani Pedrosa

10th2'14.443

“Today we made a little step forward on the dry but still not enough to stay in the group who can fight for the victory. Then I struggled a lot in the wet with both medium and soft spec of tyres. I could not find any grip. That means that tomorrow we will start again from back on the grid and of course this is not good. We will see what the conditions will be at race time and what we can do form the start.”

MotoGP 2018Saturday, November 3rd 2018

Qualifying
Round 18
Malaysia Motorcycle Grand PrixMalaysia

Qualifying Classification

Wet

Pos.

Rider

Num

Nation

Team

Constructor

Time/Gap

1

Marquez Marc

93

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

2'12.161* (Grid P7)

2

Zarco Johann

5

FRA

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

2'12.709

3

Rossi Valentino

46

ITA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

2'13.009

4

Iannone Andrea

29

ITA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

2'13.097

5

Dovizioso Andrea

4

ITA

Ducati Team

Ducati

2'13.183

6

Miller Jack

43

AUS

Pramac Racing

Ducati

2'13.274

7

Petrucci Danilo

9

ITA

Pramac Racing

Ducati

2'13.413

8

Rins Alex

42

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

2'13.463

9

Bautista Alvaro

19

SPA

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

2'14.185

10

Pedrosa Dani

26

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

2'14.443

11

Vinales Maverick

25

SPA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

2'14.856

12

Espargaro Aleix

41

SPA

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

2'15.340

13

Redding Scott

45

GBR

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

2'13.786

14

Pirro Michele

51

ITA

Ducati Team

Ducati

2'13.823

15

Simeon Xavier

10

BEL

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

2'13.971

16

Espargaro Pol

44

SPA

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

2'14.132

17

Smith Bradley

38

GBR

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

2'14.332

18

Luthi Tom

12

SWI

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

2'14.843

19

Morbidelli Franco

21

ITA

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

2'14.994

20

Bradl Stefan

6

GER

LCR Honda

Honda

2'15.364

21

Abraham Karel

17

CZE

Angel Nieto Team

Ducati

2'15.679

22

Nakagami Takaaki

30

JPN

LCR Honda

Honda

2'16.558

23

Syahrin Hafizh

55

MAL

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

2'16.825

24

Torres Jordi

81

SPA

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

2'01.940 (FP2)

Gallery

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Location Information

Specifically built for speed and exciting racing, the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia is one of the world’s best. The 2,300 acre complex cost around £50m to construct and was built in just 14 months, holding its first Grand Prix in April 1999 and setting the standard for race circuits… read more.

Location Information

Specifically built for speed and exciting racing, the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia is one of the world’s best. The 2,300 acre complex cost around £50m to construct and was built in just 14 months, holding its first Grand Prix in April 1999 and setting the standard for race circuits… read more.